iFixit Launches FixHub Portable USB-C Soldering System to Encourage Repair Projects

[bergert]

Just a dial to control juice, but no temperature control.

without temp control=shutdown, the tip corrodes and the heating element dies quickly. The price suggests pro, but the product is not.

 

[Arytonsenna]

Ridiculous price, and who is doing 8 hours of soldering? You can get an even better version of this, without any cord connecting to a base station, for $16 on Amazon.

 

[BGPL]

Crazy! Soldering irons draw a lot of current. Wireless soldering iron isn't new but I like the form factor.

 

[altaic]

iFixit CEO here, happy to answer any questions!

You can power the soldering iron from any USB-C Power Delivery wall adapter, like an Anker. Or from any battery pack out there. 15W is probably the minimum that you want, or iFixit sells a 65W GaN charger that works great. Any of Apple's USB-C power bricks should work fine.

For $80 you can get started soldering. The accelerometer, supple heat resistant silicon cable, and magnetic cap all make soldering easier and safer than ever before.

We set out to design an experience that gave people confidence soldering if they've never done it before, while delivering professional performance comparable to systems that are significantly more expensive.

What standard tips does it use? Or are they proprietary?

 

[Enkidu Jones]

Seems expensive and excessive — when I need to do portable soldering I run my Pinecil from a USB battery pack with absolutely no problems.

 

[thegrayrace]

I will stick with my Weller gear rather than whatever cheap crap iFixit is rebranding.

This is not a rebranded product. It is an entirely custom design that iFixit's product development and engineering team spent several years on. Understandable to have your own brand preference — but do try to avoid misinformation.

 

[ChrisA]

As part of its longstanding efforts to encourage users to repair their electronic devices and other items, iFixit is announcing FixHub, a USB-C soldering iron and portable power station designed to allow all types of users to handle soldering work wherever they may be.

The Portable Power Station serves as the command and power center for FixHub, including a 55-watt-hour battery to support over eight hours of continuous soldering on a single charge. The power supply delivers up to 100 watts to a pair of USB-C ports, allowing it to run two soldering irons simultaneously, and the fact that it's simply a USB-C power output device means you can also use it to power or recharge an array of devices like phones.

The solidly built power station includes a handy display to show the status of your soldering iron, along with a convenient dial for adjusting the power being delivered to the iron, supporting temperatures up to 400ºC (750ºF). A flip-up bracket raises the front of the power station a bit to make the display easier to see while in use, while attachment points on the left and right side allow you to clip on the soldering iron's cap for convenient access as a stand.

A USB-C port on the rear of the power station allows for up to 45 watts of input to recharge the station, and iFixit says it is safe to leave continuously connected to power so it's ready whenever you need it.

The soldering iron itself is designed with ergonomics in mind, with a comfort pencil-like grip with a short Bevel 1.5 tip for precise heat control. Additional tips will be sold separately, including Cone, Wedge 1.5, Point, Bevel 2.6, Knife 2.5, and Knife 1.4, with more potentially being added in the future depending on demand. Once turned on, the iron is ready to begin soldering in under five seconds.

Safety features are key to the FixHub experience, with a configurable automatic sleep mode, a heat-resistant protective cap for the iron that snaps on magnetically, and gyroscope-powered fall detection that automatically turns off the iron if it is dropped or knocked off a table. An LED status light ring on the iron itself makes it obvious when the iron is hot, shining blue when below 40ºC (100ºF) and safe to touch, purple when actively heating or cooling and not safe to touch, or orange when at the set temperature and ready to solder.

While pairing the soldering iron with iFixit's power station is the preferred setup, you can use the soldering iron on its own with any sufficiently powerful USB-C power source. The set temperature for the iron can be adjusted by plugging into the USB-C port on a computer and accessing the iron's settings via a browser (Chrome, Edge, or Brave required).

iFixit is of course known for more than just hardware, and it has hundreds of free soldering guides on its website, ranging from the basics of soldering to specific repair projects.

It also wouldn't be an iFixit product without repairability being front of mind, so the FixHub system is designed to allow for easy repairs and iFixit will be releasing a number of guides to help users replace batteries, repair parts, and more.

Supplementing the FixHub is an optional Portable Soldering Toolkit, which provides an extensive set of tools and consumables to get you going on soldering projects.

The Portable Soldering Station with the soldering iron and battery pack is priced at $249.95 / €269.95, while the full toolkit included the iron, battery pack, pliers, and other tools is $299.95 / €329.95.

The USB Smart Soldering Iron can also be purchased on its own for $79.95 / €84.95 if you need an additional one or want to use one without the iFixit power supply. Shipping begins on October 15 in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe.

Article Link: iFixit Launches FixHub Portable USB-C Soldering System to Encourage Repair Projects

Is there any Apple device where this solder iron could be used? I seriously doubt it. This might be a great tool but it is not what a technician would use to replace a part in an iPhone. The tech would be using a hot air station, not a solder iron.

That said, solder irons are a basic tool that you need to do many kinds of repairs, but not iPhone repairs.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

iFixit makes great tools - I'm sure this is a continuation of that trend. I don't see myself needing a soldering iron but if I do in the future, I know who I'll be buying it from.

 

[GMShadow]

This is not a rebranded product. It is an entirely custom design that iFixit's product development and engineering team spent several years on. Understandable to have your own brand preference — but do try to avoid misinformation.

Employee says company product great, film at 11.

 

[erihp]

This looks great.

But for the price, I'll stick to my Pinecil + power bank

 

[ZZ9pluralZalpha]

Grip-to-tip length looks much longer than my Ersa Nano. As an engineer and a terrible solderer, a short shaft for added control far outweighs niceties like USB-C.

(No, the many many double entendres here are not intentional…)

 

[RogueWarrior65]

I had higher hopes for a product branded as a "Smart" soldering iron e.g. automatically setting the temperature for the solder and components being used or cooling it after an amount of time appropriate to soldering a specific connection.

 

[altaic]

I like the physical design and battery life of this iron, but not having a temperature readout at this price point is stupid, and for that matter so is temperature control on the battery pack. Also, it appears that the tips are proprietary, and proprietary disposables are not a winning way to enter a market. Furthermore, there are already really good usb-c irons with none of these issues for a fraction of the price.

 

[Billistan]

This thing is REALLY cool, but a bit pricey. It's not a horrible price when you count the flexibility of the battery pack and USB-C, but theyre competing with professional digital soldering stations from established brands like Hako and Weller. My digital soldering station from Weller was about $110 on sale.

I usually have electricity wherever I'm soldering, even on job sites in commercial audio video, we're not out there until electricity is on in the building. So the battery backup isn't a game changer by any means.

A simple soldering pencil with a built in LiIon battery that recharges by USB-C would be more of an ideal situation.

 

[00001000bit]

I like iFixit as a company for the work they do with product teardown information.

But, this soldering iron just doesn't seem worth it. I actually have sometimes needed to do repairs in the field (RC FPV quadcopter) and just have the 9 dollar pigtail connector for my TS100 (also works with the Pinecil) to power the iron using the same 4s-6s batteries that I already have on me to power my quadcopter.

HobbyPark XT60 Male Banana Connector to Male DC 5.5mm X 2.5mm DC5525 Power Cable for TS100 Soldering Iron Outdoor Field Repairing

The color of the item may vary slightly due to photography and your own computer /Phone Please allow some little manual measurement error. If you are not completely satisfied with our products, please do not hesitate to contact us to request a refund or exchange! Check your specific mo...

www.amazon.com

Additionally, with either of those (cheaper) irons, I'll have my controls available to me right on the iron, without needing to connect to a proprietary battery pack or need a computer.

 

[cicalinarrot]

As a former repairman, I think they made it portable almost exclusively because it felt cooler (it does look cool and I kinda want one...) and justified a higher price tag without having to compete with more professional stuff.
Still, the great majority of amateurs should probably avoid spending that kind of money on brand and portability while pros should only get something like this as a plus for their workshop for special occasions.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

If you don’t buy the base, you have to use a web interface to change temperature.

Absolutely untrue.

There's also a command line.

 

[Victor Mortimer]

Do I want this? Yes. Am I gonna buy it? Nope.

My free Weller still works. Somebody had written "bad" on it, I picked it up out of a recycle pile to see if I could fix it. There was nothing wrong with it, it just needed a new tip.

 

[nt5672]

iFixit CEO here, happy to answer any questions!

You can power the soldering iron from any USB-C Power Delivery wall adapter, like an Anker. Or from any battery pack out there. 15W is probably the minimum that you want, or iFixit sells a 65W GaN charger that works great. Any of Apple's USB-C power bricks should work fine.

For $80 you can get started soldering. The accelerometer, supple heat resistant silicon cable, and magnetic cap all make soldering easier and safer than ever before.

We set out to design an experience that gave people confidence soldering if they've never done it before, while delivering professional performance comparable to systems that are significantly more expensive.

Is this new iron made in the USA?

 

[HylianKnight]

I fix it makes great stuff. This product is not for me. I’m fine with my $20 Weller iron.

Honestly, im tempted. All the soldering tools offered at my local home improvement stores kinda suck. It’s rare I ever need one though, but when I do, I’d like a quality option to do the work.

 

[HylianKnight]

iFixit CEO here, happy to answer any questions!

You can power the soldering iron from any USB-C Power Delivery wall adapter, like an Anker. Or from any battery pack out there. 15W is probably the minimum that you want, or iFixit sells a 65W GaN charger that works great. Any of Apple's USB-C power bricks should work fine.

For $80 you can get started soldering. The accelerometer, supple heat resistant silicon cable, and magnetic cap all make soldering easier and safer than ever before.

We set out to design an experience that gave people confidence soldering if they've never done it before, while delivering professional performance comparable to systems that are significantly more expensive.

Is this real? iFixit CEO in the MacRumors forum?! I think I love this company even more now.

 

[xpaulso]

oh hell no!!!. As an experienced equipment repairer the biggest headache our repair industry has is fixing the very bad repair jobs done by people who think they can solder. Go look at the thousands upon thousands of youtube video's of repair people from all over the world fixing equipment that has had a very bad repair job done and in many cases the bad repair has been carried out by a supposedly experienced repair shop.

There is way too much antidotal evidence on social media that tells us inexperienced people should not be buying equipment repair tools to repair their own electronic devices because even allegedly experienced people do a very bad job which is then handed over to someone who does actually have the proper repair experience to fix electronic devices.

As someone who would like to learn how to solder and de-solder. (Hobby) what would you suggest is the best way to get started? I'm a hardware geek and love components, and this is a skill I always wanted to learn.

 

[svish]

Interesting product from iFixit. Not sure how many will be buying it to fix their own devices.

 

[laptech]

As someone who would like to learn how to solder and de-solder. (Hobby) what would you suggest is the best way to get started? I'm a hardware geek and love components, and this is a skill I always wanted to learn.

Find a local community college or study group that is showing people how to solder. Unfortunately today with the worlds throw away society, manufacturers do not make products to be repaired, they build them so they can be thrown away for electrical waste with a new one being bought. This is why you will not find colleges or local groups investing their time into teaching people how to solder because it's not needed anymore.

If iFixit is trying to promote Right to Repair by getting people to repair their own devices by offering soldering tools to do the job then iFixit should have the decency to provide solder training for those that do not know how to. It would be extremely irresponsible of them to tell people to repair their own devices, provide the tools to do it but then do not provide any training on how to use the tools.

Unless ifixt steps up to the plate and others solder training then you will have to find a local college or group that offers it because otherwise it will be a case of finding training videos on social media.

 

[brofkand]

Honestly, im tempted. All the soldering tools offered at my local home improvement stores kinda suck. It’s rare I ever need one though, but when I do, I’d like a quality option to do the work.

Look at the Pinecil from Pine64.